Importance of Satsang ( holy company)
The spiritual progress through the medium of Shravan Bhakti (devotion through hearing) is very slow. If one wants to make rapid spiritual progress, efforts should be made to implement whatever is taught in the Satsang. Hence, whenever we go for a Satsang, we must take along a pen and pad, so that notes can be made of the topics discussed in the Satsang and those points should be implemented in daily life.
Spirituality is a science of experience and only when one implements the tenets of spirituality, he/she gets anubhutis. Hence merely listening does not bring about any significant change in life. Spirituality is the knowledge of the infinite and is also a science. Hence, the simplest medium of learning spirituality is attending a Satsang and that too as a student. While going for a Satsang, if the children are naughty, one must avoid taking children to the satsang , as it will disturb the concentration of others. Remember that Satsang is the place where education about Dharma is being imparted. Hence, upholding the dignity of that place is the Dharma of every seeker.
In a Satsang, the importance of word is merely 2% and what is conveyed beyond words is 98%. The Seekers who have just begun their spiritual journey with spiritual levels of 30-40% must pay attention to the words and also be attentive to the Chaitanya (divine consciousness) that is being created beyond words in the satsang. Those who have progressed in Sadhana (spiritual practice), that is those who have acquired a spiritual level above 60%, must thrive to receive the divine consciousness present there and which is beyond words.
If a seeker possesses Bhav, language does not become an obstacle and they experience bliss through divine consciousness which is beyond words. I will narrate an Anubhuti (spiritual experience) of a woman seeker here. In January 2011, a three day satsang was being conduted in English at Chennai by our organisation. An old woman Seeker used to attend the Satsang;but she did not understand English. However, she used to attend the Satsang daily and would sit blissfully. One day, I asked her through another Seeker as to why she attended the Satsang and whether she understood whatever I explained during Satsang.
She told me she did not understand anything that was being told but she could perceive (divine glimpse) of the form of Maa Durgaa in me. The fact is that this Seeker was at 45% spiritual level which due to the collective Saatvikta (spiritual purity) of the satsang crossed the 50% spiritual level. Moreover, her Bhav was pronounced. Hence, she derived the bliss beyond words and also got a divine glimpse for the same reason.
Similarly, at a three-day spiritual camp in Godda district of Jharkhand, a four-year-old boy, Kumar Raunak Thakur used to come and sit blissfully and with full concentration for three hours on all the three days.
During the Satsang, he would also write down a Mantra – “Om Om Namo Bhagwate Vasudevaye Om Om” (he had been told to do this chanting according to his highly evolved spiritual level). This child Seeker did not even know how to write a sentence properly, but as his spiritual level was at 50%, he used to derive bliss through the Chaitanya generated beyond words in the Satsang and also could write the chant.
How to derive maximum benefit from the satsang:
Now, we will take a look at what we can do to derive maximum benefit from the subjects taught intellectually and Chaitanya generated beyond words.
(i) Before going to attend a Satsang, do the salt-water treatment so that you can receive unhindered Chaitanya at the Satsang. I have seen that due to spiritual problems, some people start sleeping the moment they come for the Satsang. Attending a Satsang after doing the salt-water treatment destroys the sublte black veil surrounding the mind and intellect, and the intellectual aspect of spirituality is received. Also, due to a reduction of the subtle black veil, Chaitanya of the Satsang is grasped much easily.
(ii) Two hours before Satsang, pray to the one you venerate so that you can receive the Chaitanya of the Satsang.
(iii) Before Satsang starts, pray to Shree Ganesh, the deity of intellect and to Maa Saraswati, who is the goddess of knowledge, that “may the subtle black veil clouding our mind and intellect be destroyed and may we accept the Satsang at the levels of mind, intellect and divine consciousness and may we be able to implement it in our life.” Maintain the continuity of chanting and prayers during the Satsang too.
(iv) In the present times, hundred per cent of the population is suffering from troubles caused by negative energies. Hence, if one experiences some kind of physical problems, do chanting attentively, pray and avoid getting up from the venue of the satsang. After some time, your problems will get reduced.
In February 2011, I was taking a Satsang at a house in Delhi, when a Seeker attending the Satsang started feeling uneasy. He started shivering, sweating and felt like running out of Satsang, but he kept chanting and praying and did not leave the satsang. The next day he discovered that there was an 80% improvement in his feet that had been plagued by a 15-year-old eczema.
Within three days, he was totally cured of his eczema that had been itching for the last 15 years and even used to bleed. The reality is that this Seeker was being troubled by a negative energy and due to the Chaitanya received at the Satsang, the negative energy troubling, left him and he was relieved of his problem. Such is the glory of Satsang.
Similarly, once I was in Buxar in Bihar for a Satsang. After the Satsang got over, three seekers told me that prior to the Satsang they had excessive physical pain that was completely cured by the time the Satsang got over. Please remember, the importance of chanting is 5% and that of Satsang 30%.
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